Peruvian First Division[]
Peru’s new “decentralised” championship is a largely futile exercise, which seems to have been dreamed up by a deranged statistician or a regular moron.
The old system where teams played each other twice and the side with the most points were crowned champions, as used in every other sane league, was deemed too dull.
The slightly stupid South American system, as used in Argentina, where there are two champions per year – Apertura and Clausura – was also deemed too dull.
Under the new rules, the 16 teams play each other twice but this is just the warm-up to a bizarre play-off round.
The teams that finish in odd-numbered positions are put in one group, while the teams finishing in even-numbered positions are in another group.
The points are carried over and the teams that win each group meet in a pointless final that gives a team a chance of being declared champions despite being much worse than the runners-up. It is now pretty much a pointless competition.
These days, Nolberto (Nobby) Solano, formerly of Newcastle United, plays for Universitario de Deportes in the Peruvian First Division.